Pete Wells Awards Three Stars to Shuko, Tejal Rao Is Less Impressed

Eater's critics were off this week, but here's a roundup of the rest of the week's reviews:

Pete Wells is impressed by Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau's new sushi counter, Shuko: "What's impressive about Shuko, though, is how many times the chefs ring the bells without resorting to clichéd indulgences. One of the most memorable pieces of nigiri in my sushi omakase was an intense, livery, chewy bite of squab cartilage with sansho pepper." Three stars. [NYT]

Tejal Rao also reviews Shuko, where she says the sushi itself is a little inconsistent, but everything else is stellar: "A cool salad of cucumber and big pieces of sweet dungeness crab was seasoned perfectly with Japanese ginger and vinegar. Grilled lobster with florets of cauliflower and truffles was perfectly engineered so every ingredient on the plate could shine. Soft, melt-away cubes of lamb belly and grainy sunchoke made a fine, unexpectedly rich pair in one of the final hot dishes." Two stars. [Bloomberg]

Zachary Feldman discovers We Are Georgians, a family-operated Georgian restaurant in Bensonhurst: "Walnuts feature prominently, pulverized and mixed with herbs and roughly chopped spinach or beans for remarkable spreads meant for spooning onto hunks of bread and simmered into a creamy bazhe sauce for boneless chicken thighs. Ojakhuri, whose name translates to "family meal," looks like Peruvian lomo saltado, its chunks of chicken or pork tossed with fried potatoes and sweet peppers." [VV]

Michael Kaminer reviews Eli's Table, the revamp of Eli Zabar's Upper East Side restaurant. His biggest complaint is the portions, and the prices attached: "Halibut tostadas ($8) almost come off as a practical joke. On house-made tortilla crisps that make Ritz crackers look like lily pads, Carr drops lush, pale-green fish-guacamole paste. Once the tostadas disappeared – all four of them! – I started contemplating the Atkins bar in my bag for sustenance....a pizzetta ($12) of crème fraiche, thin-sliced nova, onions and roe on focaccia...might be New York's most elegant riff on bagel and lox – and at about four inches in diameter, one of the stingiest." Two stars. [NYDN]

Joshua David Stein reviews Cafe Clover, a new West Village restaurant where healthy ingredients outweigh good food: "A kale, blood orange and watermelon radish salad, O.K. Not baddish a gem lettuce salad but also not great either. The chia seeds thrown over it made little sense, in terms of flavor or texture. Not cruddy the market crudité either, but it wilts when compared with what's offered at Santina, where the sauce is a delectable pesto and the whole thing has a theatrical flair to boot." Two stars. [NYO]

THE ELSEWHERE: Hannah Goldfield visits both Mu Ramen and Ramen Lab, and is more impressed by the latter. Ligaya Mishan loves Patacon Pisao on the Lower East Side. Gael Greene is charmed by BLVD Bistro in Harlem.

THE BLOGS: The Infatuation likes the celeb-studded Bowery Meat Company, and loves Greenpoint Fish & Lobster, Restaurant Girl says Zuma is flashy but not great, NY Journal treks out to Mapo Korean BBQ in Queens, Chekmark Eats visits that LES stalwart, Freeman's, and Chopsticks + Marrow gets soup and a sandwich, Chinese-style at Red Star.